‘ARCA Moments’ come in all shapes and sizes, and this year we’ve seen two of them in the same category. Saturday’s General Tire 200 marks the second ARCA-sanctioned race to be abruptly shortened due to time constraints, this time with nine laps of racing to go at Sonoma.
And that'll do it everyone
Jake Drew picks up his second consecutive West Series victory at @RaceSonoma, which ends due to time constraints@FloRacing | @MRNRadio pic.twitter.com/CxZSxcS95s
— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) June 11, 2022
Regardless of how it all unfolded, the checkered flag went to Jake Drew, who picked up his second straight victory in the ARCA Menards Series West, just one week after capturing his maiden victory at Portland International Raceway.
The Sunrise Ford Racing driver started the General Tire 200 from the pole, and although he had a few temporary challengers for the victory throughout the course of the event, he never had a significant challenge for the win.
While the lead stayed the same for the early part of the event, there were a number of drivers that found trouble, through spins and crashes early on. P.J. Pedroncelli, Sebastian Arias, Vince Little, and Nick Joanides were among those to have issues in the first 15 laps.
The event’s first lead change came on lap 19, when Todd Souza rocketed around Drew for the top spot. However, Souza overcooked it entering turn seven one lap later, handing the lead back to Jake Drew.
Saturday’s event had a chaotic nature to it, with incidents continuing on just a few laps from the restart, although this one had a little bit of extra flair to it.
Rodd Kneeland Gets Turned by Bridget Burgess and Goes After… Sebastian Arias?
Rodd Kneeland (68) and Bridget Burgess (88) went at it for multiple laps, while battling for a spot outside the top-10, a battle which ultimately ended in Kneeland being spun around. Unfortunately, Sebastian Arias, who was having a career day, had nowhere to go, piling into the accident.
It seemed as though Arias was just an innocent bystander in the chaos, right? According to Kneeland, that’s wrong. Either something else happened beforehand or tempers were just really high, because the driver of the No. 68 went right after Arias after climbing from his racecar.
Rodd Kneeland appears to be a little upset with Sebastian Arias.@RaceSonoma | @FloRacing | @MRNRadio pic.twitter.com/79OIP4Sfx9
— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) June 11, 2022
From that point, it took a while for the race to get back into a rhythm after another crash occurred on the restart, this time involving Tanner Reif and Takuma Koga. The rookie driver has had a rough couple of weeks, taking another massive hit in the series’ point standings.
With – what was supposed to be — 24 laps to go, the battle for the lead had heated up between Drew, Landen Lewis, and Cole Moore, with all three drivers exchanging shots at the race lead until the caution was thrown for debris.
As we all know, in ARCA ‘cautions breed cautions’, and that was again the case on Saturday, when Colby Howard dove into turn 11 with a three-wide move for second-place, spinning both Lewis and Moore.
Moore attempted to vacate the scene of the accident, but instead drove directly into oncoming traffic, taking out PJ Pedroncelli, Ryan Philpott, and Dean Thompson, all of which had nowhere to go.
Chaos in Turn 11!
Landen Lewis and Cole Moore get turned around by Colby Howard.
Then Moore pulls in front of the field and collects Dean Thompson, Ryan Philpott and P.J. Pedroncelli.@FloRacing | @MRNRadio pic.twitter.com/uZRN6sixgL
— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) June 11, 2022
There may have been some watching this incident and those prior, sarcastically telling ARCA to end the race after such an ‘ARCA Moment’. Well, due to time constraints, ARCA Menards Series officials called the race official, handing the win to Jake Drew.
Colby Howard, attempted to gain experience for the NASCAR Truck Series’ first visit to Sonoma since 1998, finished in the second position, while 61-year-old Dale Quarterley finished the race in third place, a career-best.
Jack Wood and Joey Iest rounded out the top five, with Austin Herzog, Eric Nascimento, Todd Souza, Tim Spurgeon, and Bridget Burgess rounding out the top-ten finishers.
After two straight weeks of wild races, the series will take a much-needed few weeks off before heading to Irwindale Speedway on July 2nd for the Napa Auto Parts 150.
General Tire 200 Results:
- Jake Drew
- Colby Howard
- Dale Quarterley
- Jack Wood
- Joey Iest
- Austin Herzog
- Eric Nascimento
- Todd Souza
- Tim Spurgeon
- Bridget Burgess
- Vince Little
- Cole Moore
- Andrew Tuttle
- Landen Lewis
- Dean Thompson (OUT)
- PJ Pedroncelli (OUT)
- Ryan Philpott (OUT)
- Tanner Reif (OUT)
- Takuma Koga (OUT)
- Rodd Kneeland (OUT)
- Sebastian Arias (OUT)
- Nick Joanides (OUT)
- Paul Pedroncelli (OUT)
- Brian Kamisky (DNS)
ARCA West Standings After 5 of 11 Races:
POINTS: ARCA West (After 5 of 11 Races)
1. Jake Drew
2. Todd Souza (-35)
3. Tanner Reif (-37)
4. Cole Moore (-38)
5. Austin Herzog (-39)
6. PJ Pedroncelli (-47)
7. Joey Iest (-54)
8. Takuma Koga (-57)
9. Bridget Burgess (-63)
10. Paul Pedroncelli (-109)#ARCA | @ARCA_Racing— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) June 11, 2022
